F M Investments LLC Acquires 1,242 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

F M Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,638 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,242 shares during the quarter. F M Investments LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $751,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in Kroger by 2.3% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 22,662,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,014,168,000 after buying an additional 498,995 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Kroger by 7.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,833,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,551,000 after buying an additional 511,978 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Kroger by 1.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,492,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,023,000 after buying an additional 78,710 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in Kroger by 0.3% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 4,005,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,242,000 after buying an additional 10,556 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Kroger by 2.0% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,619,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,246,000 after buying an additional 50,177 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. BNP Paribas reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.17.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR stock traded down $1.31 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $55.62. The company had a trading volume of 5,146,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,960,286. The company has a market capitalization of $40.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $53.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $42.10 and a 52-week high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $37.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. Kroger’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 39.19%.

Kroger Company Profile

The Kroger Co operates as a food and drug retailer in the United States. The company operates combination food and drug stores, multi-department stores, marketplace stores, and price impact warehouses. Its combination food and drug stores offer natural food and organic sections, pharmacies, general merchandise, pet centers, fresh seafood, and organic produce; and multi-department stores provide apparel, home fashion and furnishings, outdoor living, electronics, automotive products, and toys.